2011

As we rapidly approach the end of 2010 there are really only two mainstream plug-in cars stealing the limelight - the 2011 Nissan Leaf and the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. But while there will only be a few choices for those wishing to go electric at the end of 2010 in a few years’ time there will be...

Back in August AllSmallCars.com went out to Las Vegas for a day of fun with the all-new 2011 Scion tC and for those who missed the article, it is a pretty nice ride. Well, imagine that if more news coming off the Vegas strip has Scion and now the 2011 Scion xB. For those of you plugged in to this...

One of the biggest motoring events of the year is just around the corner - the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. Manufacturers will be out in force with the best of their product lineup and a combination of glitzy stands and glitzy girls to make the metal seem that little bit more appealing. What we're...

If you listen to the ad executives trying to sell the 2011 Chevrolet Volt there’s one big problem with electric cars: they don’t go as far on a charge as a gas car can on a tank of fuel. While it’s true that electric cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Coda Sedan may provide...

Internal-combustion engines typically convert only one-third of the energy stored in gasoline or diesel fuel into usable power. The rest is wasted as heat, noise, or even goes unburnt. So the question for designers of range-extended electric vehicles becomes: How can onboard liquid fuel most...

Many are waiting with baited breath for the unveiling of the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK, the company’s smallest convertible. However, with that event still a couple of months away, Mercedes is trying to keep us on the edge of our seats with more information on their “Magic Sky...

Lexus didn’t get as good of a response from debut of the Lexus HS 250h last year as they would have liked, but that seems to have spurred them to make something even better. Let us introduce the all-new Lexus CT 200h. At first glance you might mistake the CT 200h for a Mazdaspeed3, but this...

Commercials can provide a much-needed break from reality and some can be pretty entertaining. Just look at the Super Bowl ads…there are whole twitter groups that converse about the ads as they happen and sites that rank them in order from best to worst. Nissan isn’t waiting for the...

Electric cars are kind of the like fall collection of the Fashion world, there are always people who will get in line to be early adopters and some of the designs may make it mainstream, but only time will. Our partners over at GreenCarReports.com ran a story at the end of last week that asked if...

There aren’t many of the usual suspects in the automotive industry that don’t have a hybrid vehicle these days. In fact, it is almost getting harder to name all the people who do, which makes those who don’t either forgotten or stick out in side-by-side comparisons. Ever wonder...

General Electric, the conglomerate that produces everything from power-plant turbines to television shows, wants to jumpstart the electric-vehicle market. To do that, said CEO Jeffrey Immelt yesterday in London, it will place the "largest order in history" for electric vehicles, numbering in the...

There was a time when an electric car could be plugged into just about any electrical outlet its owner could find. With a little bit of ingenuity and forward planning, any electric car could plug-in just about anywhere. We’ve heard stories of National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA)...

Since the automobiles were invented there as been movements to make them electric. In fact, there was a time in the 1890s and the early 1900s where the electric car was a fierce competitor to the internal combustion powered car. There were even fleet applications of the electric car in New York...

Chrysler may join Nissan, Ford, Fisker and Tesla in winning a share of federal loans to convert old factories to greener-car production. Automotive News reports that Chrysler has applied to the Department of Energy for approximately $10 billion in low-interest loans, to be used for retooling...

Your Mileage May Vary. One of the terms banded about time and time again by automakers as a justification for why your car doesn’t get the fuel economy it says your car should. The reason? Fuel economy is affected by many different variables, from the mood of the driver to the weather, tire...

The PR guy got us lost. Twice. But David Reuter, Nissan’s chief communications director, didn’t break a sweat even when the Remaining Range indicator fell below 5 miles and started flashing. Which leads us to think that even after the 2011 Nissan Leaf battery pack hits...

Ah, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the gift that just keeps on giving headline fodder to eager editors. Which is probably just what PETA intended. We learned last week that PETA proposed to Boston's chief of environmental and energy services, Jim Hunt, that it run ads promoting the...

With the first Leafs now rolling off the production line, Nissan has given us an insight into how the car is produced with a short video. The video shows different aspects of production, such as how the battery is produced and installed, how the inverter is made and how the motor is made and...

All the different incentives to purchase electric cars can be confusing. But if all the stars align and you're the lucky person who can take advantage of multiple incentives, there’s a slim chance that you could buy a brand-new 2011 Nissan Leaf for a mere $12,300. Here’s how it works...

October has been quite a month. This week we drove a pre-production version of the 2011 Nissan Leaf, the first production electric car to be sold by a major automaker in more than 80 years. Unlike the range-extended electric 2011 Chevrolet Volt, which we drove last week, the 2011 Leaf is a pure...